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We all know that Obama’s/liberals’ plan is to vilify the rich and make them seem like they all got their money without working, that the poor and middle class actually deserve that money, and that if the poor and middle class can’t actually directly take that money from them, they at least need to “pay their fair share” of taxes so that it can be redistributed to the poor and middle class.

I discussed this with someone the other day who said that the Republicans look bad in the media because it looks like they are only looking out for the “rich.” There are a couple of problems with that – first, “rich” must be defined. Currently it is $250,000 a couple (remember, if you and your spouse make less than this then it was promised your taxes wouldn’t go up?). As the economy gets worse and government gets greedier, that number is sure to go down.

Another problem is, even if the rich did not pay “their fair share,” a tax increase on them, no matter how high, is not going to cure the governments debt/spending problem. It won’t even come close.

And, the fact is, the rich already pay more than their fair share. According to CNBC,

“…it turns out wealthy families already are paying some of their biggest federal tax bills in decades even as the rest of the population continues to pay at historically low rates.”

Here are some other facts from the article:

- “For 2013, families with incomes in the top 20 percent of the nation will pay an average of 27.2 percent of their income in federal taxes”

- “The top one percent of households, those with incomes averaging $1.4 million, will pay an average of 35.5 percent. Those tax rates, which include income, payroll, corporate and estate taxes, are among the highest since 1979.”

- “The average family in the bottom 20 percent of households won’t pay any federal taxes. Instead, many families in this group will get payments from the federal government by claiming more in credits than they owe in taxes, including payroll taxes. That will give them a negative tax rate.”

Now I will re-state these facts with emphasis

- THE TOP 1% RICHEST PEOPLE IN THE COUNTRY PAY 35.5% OF THE TAXES IN AMERICA

- THE BOTTOM 20% POOREST PEOPLE IN THE COUNTRY PAY NO MONEY, IN FACT THEY GET PAID!

Remember what I said in the beginning about not being able to forcibly take the money from the rich? In effect, the government is doing it for them. If this isn’t the definition of “redistribution of wealth” then I don’t know what is. There always has been some form of it, because of assistance/entitlement programs, etc. that obviously the taxpayers pay for, but this is literally money being taken from the rich and given directly to the “poor.”

So, now that the “rich” are paying their “fair share,” how many more years will it be until all of our problems are solved?

Oh, almost missed a good quote -

“Spite and envy are not sound bases for public policy.” – J.D. Foster, a fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation.